Tiger Woods and Atonement

After listening to Tiger Woods’ public apology for his many infidelities, one phrase stood out more than any other during the entire 13 ½ minutes: “I have a lot to atone for.” The statement points to the crucial importance of atonement. It reminded me of what news commentator Brit Hume said more than a month ago. Noting Woods’ Buddhist heritage from his mother, Hume said, “I don’t think that faith offers the kind of forgiveness and redemption that is offered by the Christian faith. So my message to Tiger would be, ‘Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.’”

You can imagine the contempt and utter scorn that was heaped upon Hume for such audacious words. The Huffington Post for example, called it “sanctimonious,” “distasteful,” and “inflammatory.” I’ve read and re-read Hume’s statement and none of those descriptions seem to apply. But that’s beside the point. What Hume was getting at is that forgiveness and redemption are not the central religious concepts within Buddhism that they are in Christianity. That’s simply a matter of fact, not a reflection of bigotry or intolerance.

What was most interesting to me about the whole story was that journalists sought out Buddhist scholars to comment on the controversy, and the professors (indirectly) confirmed what Hume had said. For example, Carl M. Cannon of Politics Daily cites Stephen Prothero on the religion faculty at Boston University: “You have the law of karma, so no matter what Woods says or does, he is going to have to pay for whatever wrongs he’s done. There’s no accountant in the sky wiping sins off your balance sheet, like there is in Christianity.”

Tiger Woods was right in a sense. There was a lot to atone for, namely, the sins of all humanity. The significance of the cross is that Jesus accomplished that very thing, once and for all. Woods could never atone for his own sins. You and I could never atone for our sins, either. Christians believe that because Jesus took on our sins at the cross, he (and he alone) offers true redemption, the kind Hume was referring to.

Like Woods, at one time I would have identified myself as Buddhist. In all honesty, I still find aspects of Buddhism to be very admirable. Non-attachment, for one. There is much to be gained from letting go of worldly things. Western Christians, in general, could probably learn a great deal from this teaching (and it starts with me).

But for Tiger Woods, who appears to be seeking redemption and forgiveness, he might do well to realize that that’s the native language spoken by Christianity, not Buddhism.